Speedway racers put on a fast, exciting show as they raced around the Terrace track during the Riverboat Days races on Saturday, July 30.
The Terrace Speedway races were delayed by sweep crews for half an hour, after Richard Meyer blew an oil line in his Legends car and left oil around the track during the hot lapping. Meyer had been involved in a crash on his way back to Terrace after racing in Alberta, so did a last minute engine swap on Friday night before the races. In that swap, the oil line was not hooked up correctly, explained local speedway racer Paul Flemming in an email.
Time ins saw Phil Hustad setting the record for the night in his #2 Legend car, finishing in 19.09 seconds in his class. In the street stock class, Kris Sweet got the fast time, with 19.55 seconds in his #51 Ford F150 pickup. Gord Tuckerman set the fast time in the bomber class, finishing in 21.11 seconds in his #16 Sunfire.
The “B Bomber Class” had some exciting racing. In the B Bomber Heat, Rick Reinert lead the first 12 laps in his #53 Ford Mustang, but was pressured by #152 Pontiac Sunfire of Nathan Archer. But Archer’s car had faulty breaks and eventually he ran into and spun Reinert out of the lead, earning himself a black flag. This bumped the #86 Ford Mustang of Simon Weston into the lead and the win, followed by #04 Chev Cavalier of Paul Fleming and then Reinert recovered to finish third.
In the main race, Archer’s car was a scratch due to brakes. The #114 Honda Civic driven by John Symes recovered from a fuel issue in the heat to dominate the main and take the win. Reinert ran a strong race, showing he still has potential but finished in third, passed near the end of the race by the rookie Simon Weston in his #86 Mustang, who finished in second.
The “A Bomber Class” had eight cars competing in some tight, close racing. The #152 Pontiac Sunfire of Aiden Archer (one of our under 16 racers this year) retired part way through the race with brake issues, which was the only retirement of the night for the bomber cars. In the heat, the #66 Honda Civic driven by Kat Finnie started the race strong, but was passed by the #669 Ford Mustang of Lance Albert out of Prince Rupert. Lance led for a while but was eventually passed by the #16 Pontiac Sunfire of Gord Tuckerman. Gord ran strong but was passed on the final lap by the #60 Toyota Celica of Trevor Reinert. Final results were Reinert in first, Tuckerman in second and Albert in third.
The main race was a good battle. At lap seven, Albert and Trevor Reinert had a tangle and spun down the back straight away bringing out a red flag and putting them to the back, where they had to make their way through the field. Tuckerman took an early lead and never relinquished it for the rest of the race. Final results were Tuckerman in first, Trevor Reinert in second and Albert in third.
It was a hard night of racing in the “Street Stock Class,” with six vehicles putting on a show and some good attrition during the night. Sharon Fagan’s #48 Chev Camaro was finally fixed up to return to racing this year. In the heat race, she took an early and commanding lead. At the midpoint of the race, the #51 Ford F150 of Kris Sweet finally managed to catch and pass Fagan but then suffered a computer issue causing Sweet to bring out a red flag and hit the pits. This bunched up the field for the restart, but while the cars were waiting to get going again, #3 Chev of Derek Floer stalled and could not get restarted sending him to the pits for the night. After the restart, Fagan took the lead again, but was challenged by #3 Buick Regal of Trevor Dugaro and #44 Datsun 510 of Lance Albert. Albert tried to make an outside pass in turn two and got too far out, clipping a tire on the wall and causing his right rear axle to rip out of the car, which flipped him onto his roof. This brought out a red flag and our sweep crew and Tow Truck Pronto Towing to clean up the mess. Only four cars were left battling the last couple of laps, and in the end, Fagan took her first win of the year, #182 Chev Nova of Kynan Finnie took second and Dugaro took third.
The main race only had four cars start, and Fagan only managed to complete one lap before her car lost power and retired to the pits. The rest of the race was uneventful with Sweet taking first, Dugaro second, and Finnie third.
In the Legend class, four cars battled it out. The #76 car of Howie O’Brien took the early lead followed by #2 of Phil Hustad. Hustad managed to work his way around O’Brien on lap seven, but then O’Brien made a mistake in turn two and spun his car. The #00 car of Chris Fagan tried to avoid O’Brien’s stopped car but clipped it, ripping the rear axle out of his car and ending his night. After restarting the race, Hustad led to the checkered flag but there was a close battle for second between #76 O’Brien and #34 of Richard Meyer. O’Brien edged ahead to take second and Meyer took third.
There were three cars in the main event. The first half of the race had another good battle between Meyer and O’Brien, with Meyer in a narrow lead. But Hustad hunted both of the leaders down and took the lead, which he held onto to take the win. Meyer took second and O’Brien took third.
The next speedway races are on Saturday, August 13.
- Story contributed by Paul Flemming, with minor edits by The Terrace Standard.